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TrAP Science Fiction Short Story Competition for International Students in Norway, 2017

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Transnational Arts Production seeks original unpublished science fiction submissions for its international Science Fiction short story competition on the theme of ‘All borders are temporary’.

Borders have always been a central political problem. Discussions of national and territorial boundaries, ethnic geo-rootedness, many kinds of -exits, mark our news feeds. Digital border crossings challenge and hack into political manipulations as well as offer new possibilities of techno-cosmopolitanism and even of new possibilities in egalitarian social identity. Geopolitical borders often overlap with other kinds of borders such as socioeconomic borders, racial borders, and borders framing sexual identity.

The theme is dedicated to thresholds and borders, as well as new frontiers and new beginnings. In his essay «The race for space» Duke Ellington states that a society using its power to suppress its minorities never will achieve greatness. Our future is at stake, and we must explore possibilities in alternative futures, where borders can be and are transgressed.

Aim: Our aim in this competition is to promote the movement of science fiction works that, as a concept and as an artefact of the social, offer new possibilities in border crossings.

Eligibility: We would especially welcome work from authors from regions which, while making a mark especially in recent years in literary avenues, continue to be numerically under-represented in the global science fiction space. Such regions would include for instance the Nordic region, the Arab world, Africa, South Asia, East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Central and South America. The competition is however border free, and is open to all internationally.

Entries need to be previously unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere. Stories need to range from 3000-3500 words, and should preferably be in English. Stories in other languages are equally welcome but they must be accompanied by an English translation. Story and cover letter must be submitted electronically in doc or rtf format. Only one entry per person is allowed.

Award: Up to seven stories will be selected and competition winners will be published in a special themed volume (ISBN registered) in Spring 2018 and will be given a one-time award of NOK6000/~US$700.

Closing Date: The deadline for entries is September 1, 2017.

Entries can be sent to the editor, Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay at allbordersaretemporary-at-gmail.com.